Quote:
The Least Traveled Path (12) : In addition to the beautiful seasonal displays, the local botanical garden has set up a beautiful winter maze. Dense, lopsided fir trees that couldn’t be sold for holiday decor have been utilized to create the walls. The ability to disappear in the maze is impressive; the trees are so dense that it’s impossible to see through them, and if you try to push through them you’ll only wind up scratching or cutting yourself. You’re never really too far from the entrance or exit, and you can hear the voices of other people exploring the maze, or the celebrations at the festively decorated pavilion, but the deeper you get, the further away from all of those things you feel. For a moment, it feels like you’ve wandered into some alternate universe; the voices disappear and you feel alone. You can’t hear anyone–and they can’t hear you. You can’t see anything over the tall maze walls, and no matter where you go, you can’t seem to find your way out. Everything starts to feel cold and distant–and then suddenly all color, all smells, all sounds return. You still feel a little out of place but it’s nothing you can’t shake off. If you could just find your way out of here, first.
Merlin could hardly believe that his birthday was just around the corner. It seemed like the year had flown by and soon he would be eleven and no longer ten. There had been so many things he had wanted to do this year but couldn't find the time. One of which was spending more time as a Senshi and learning how to fight, and another was spending more time with Jian as the alien always seemed lonely until he was interacting with him. Maybe this year he would make it his goal to help cheer up the other Senshi the best her could?
These types of thoughts went through his head as he walked along the obvious pathway within the maze. His mother had stopped by the botanical garden with him and the preteen had asked to try out the maze that was made up of thick, but not 'perfect' fir trees. It had taken a little bit to get her to agree to let him go on his own but Merlin had felt that he needed to do this. Childish pride, a sense of adventure, or something else he didn't know why but he eventually won and so he was wondering alone.
He could hear people loudly enough that he didn't think he was very far in to the maze just yet even though it had been a few minutes since he had started it so he had let his thoughts wonder for a bit. not paying all that much attention to the maze around him. It wasn't until the sounds started to get quieter that he turned his full attention to the flora around him. It made sense that he would hear less people at the entrance and exit, but with the amount of people had had seen going into the maze he was surprised not to hear more maze goers.
His steps, which before then had been firm and sure, now turned a bit hesitance and slower. The pink haired boy reached into his coat pocket to wrap his hand around the magical pen he never let go to far from himself, just using it to boost his courage as the world got quieter and quieter. Within minutes all of the sounds of other people just stopped and Merlin shivered at a sudden chill in the air as he looked around for any hint as to where he needed to go next.
With his hand still wrapped around his henshin pen, Merlin kept walking into the silent maze, steps picking up speed as he tried to find his way out. It was getting colder and somehow even the color of the world seemed dull and muted. But just as suddenly as the world had changed to something that seemed to fit in a horror movie to Merlin, everything returned to normal. The color was back, he could hear faint voices, and he didn't feel like the last person on earth. Was that something that Jian had felt? If so, then he really did need to spend more time with the alien. Decision made, Merlin continued on until he finally found the exit and his mothers smiling face at the end.
Word Count: 533
